School Gun Violence Prevention & Response Guide

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the National Education Association created this guide to help state and local leaders, members, and staff prevent, prepare for, respond to, and facilitate recovery from gun violence in all education settings.

The United States suffers from an epidemic of gun violence. Every day, more than 120 people are killed by guns, and more than 200 are shot and wounded. The impact extends far beyond these casualties: Gun violence shapes the lives of millions of people in this country who witness it, who know the victims, or who live in fear of the next shooting. Less than 1 percent of gun deaths per year occur on school grounds, but gun violence has a profoundly harmful impact on students, educators, families, and communities.

Gun violence is preventable through commonsense gun laws and trauma-informed schools that create safe school environments. The guide focuses on the roles of state and local education leaders, staff, building representatives, faculty liaisons, and more. It has four sections: prevention, preparation, response, and recovery. Each part includes material for PreK–12 schools and institutions for higher education and for all categories of employees. The School Gun Violence Prevention & Response Guide presents resources, tools, recommended practices, and checklists for incorporating gun violence-related strategies into the school crisis prevention and response plans of associations, PreK–12 schools, and higher education institutions.

More About The NEA

The National Education Association (NEA) is more than 3 million people—educators, students, activists, workers, parents, neighbors, and friends—who believe in the opportunity for all students and the power of public education to transform lives and create a more just and inclusive society.

The guidance and feedback of NEA state and local affiliate leaders, staff, and members have been crucial in conceptualizing, developing, and fine-tuning this guide, which incorporates, in part, material from the NEA School Crisis Guide, published in 2018. You can contact the NEA Health and Safety Program at [email protected] and find NEA Health and Safety Program content on NEA’s website. 

The leadership and guidance from subject matter experts on gun violence prevention at Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund were pivotal in the content creation and development of this guide. You can contact Everytown Support Fund’s team at [email protected] and find Everytown’s Research and Policy content on the Everytown Support Fund’s website.